The World Bank/Center for Mediterranean Integration MENA Regional Program on Higher Education is organizing the 4th International Conference focusing on development of information sharing mechanisms and systems to inform policy makers on improving governance and quality assurance in higher education in the MENA region to be held from May 12-14, 2015, in Beirut, Lebanon. The conference is designed to provide an opportunity for participating universities and other tertiary education institutions from the MENA region and beyond to learn from each other’s experiences and to discuss along with government officials, quality assurance agencies and other local, regional and international organizations a broad range of issues related to improving governance in tertiary education through information sharing and addressing issues of quality assurance and the employability of graduates.

This year’s conference comes as a fourth in a series of regional conferences organized by the WB/CMI Regional Higher Education Program. The 2011 workshop in Cairo introduced the University Governance Screening Card (UGSC) Benchmarking Tool and set the ground for the first round of the UGSC implementation in four MENA countries. The 2012 conference in Rabat – organized in collaboration with ISESCO and the British Council – explored the lessons learned from using the UGSC and highlighted case studies of institutional reforms; however, it also launched the Regional Higher Education Network comprised of the 100 participating universities from seven MENA countries (Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Morocco, West Bank & Gaza, Tunisia). The 2014 conference in Tunis focused on the nexus between quality assurance and governance, in an attempt to enable universities and higher education sectors more broadly move ‘from vision to action’. It also provided an opportunity for members of the regional university network to engage in the discussion of the action plans they had developed building upon the results of the UGSC.

Join us in Beirut, contribute to the reform of tertiary education and join our network of tertiary education practitioners, policy makers and leaders!

Objectives

The conference builds upon the program’s previous initiatives with the objective to:

- First, bring together universities, governments, quality assurance bodies, experts and other key players from the MENA region and beyond with the goal of joint (and peer) learning on the development of information sharing mechanisms and systems to inform policy makers on improving governance and quality assurance in higher education

- Second, serve as a capacity building exercise for institutional leaders and practitioners in areas such as, but not limited to, institutional planning, performance assessment, development of indicators, financial management, etc.

- Third, support the dialogue between and among governments and institutions particularly on developing national indicators systems and addressing the pressing issue of the employability of graduates of higher education institutions

- Finally, attract the participation from institutional representatives from MENA countries not yet participating in the project, and from other regions, especially Africa and Latin America.

The Center for Mediterranean Integration (CMI) is a space where development agencies, Governments, local authorities and civil society from around the Mediterranean convene in order to exchange knowledge, discuss public policies, and identify the solutions needed to address key challenges facing the Mediterranean region.